Tedder-fork



(No Model.)

J. H. THOMAS.

TBDDER PORK. No. 319,864. Patented June 9, -1885.

WI .TJV' ESSES lttomey N4 PUERS. Fhnlo-Lnhognpher. Walhngtall, DJI.

" v l UNITED STATES PATENT @Erica- -JoHN-HLTHoMAs, oF sPEINGFIELn-onio.

lTEDDER-Folate SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 319,864, dated June 9, 1885. y

' Application filed October 4, l8r-34.V (No model.) l

To all whom, it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, JOHN H. THOMAS, of Springfield, county of Clark and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Tedder-Forks, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification.

My invention relates to that class of tedders in which the forks are actuated by means of a series of cranks formed in a transverse shaft driven through suitable gearing from the carrying-wheels, and in which also the forks or teeth are adapted to yield to obstructions which otherwise would be liable to injure or break them; and it consists in the construction of the fork arm or stale, to which the forks or tedder-teeth are secured, of elastic' material and in suitable form, adapting them to yield or bend when the forks or teeth strike an obstruction, and thereby to prevent injury to the latter. In the usual construction the forks or teeth are usually joined to a rigid or flexible arm or bar of wood or other suitable material, and the fork itself has been so constructed as to yield when it met with an obstruction liable to injure it, and this, where the obstruction was a large one, has sometimes been found insufficient to prevent injury to or the destruction of both the fork or teeth and the fork arm. To remedy this difficulty I make the arm itself of flexible material, and in the form, for example, of a stout flat spring of steel or other suitable material, adapting it to bend or yield to an obstruction which would be liable to injure or break the fork or the fork-arm if the latter were mad-e of rigid or inflexible material.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents a vertical longitudinal section through a hay-tedder, showing my improvements, and Fig. 2 a perspective view of one of the fork-arms and forks detached.

A and A indicate the main frame of the machine in suitable bearings, in which the main drive-wheel axle B and crank-shaft C are mounted. The crank-shaft may be made in a single piece with t-he several cranks for actuating the forks formed therein, or it may be made in sections suitably connected and driven through pinions on its ends engaging with and actuated by suitable gears on the carrying-wheels, as indicated, or in other suitable manner.

D represents one of my improved spring fork-arms, made, by preference, of flat spring metal and in substantially the forni shown, with the crank-box c' attached to it near the center of its length, and the fork or teeth D to its lower end, in any suitable manner, and provided at its upper end with an eye at D2, through which connection is made with the swinging link or radius-bar E, connecting said end with the tedder-frame. The arm D is by preference curved between the point of attaclilnent of the fork or teeth Dl and the crankbox o' into U form, as sli-own at d, and may be curved or bent in like manner at d', between the crank-box and eye D2, for the purpose of giving greater length to the spring and a consequent greater elasticity to the forkarm, and also by the curvature adapting the arm more readily to yield upward to obstructions. By the construction described the arm is adapted to yield or bend not only between 7 5 the fork and the crank-box, but also between the latter and the swinging link, and is thereby rendered less liable to be injured than if adapted to yield only through a smaller portion of its length. If desired, however, the 8O elasticity of the arm may be confined to the portion below the crank-box between said box and the fork or teeth, and said arm need not necessarily be curved at d and d', as it is practicable to obtain sufficient elasticity without such curvature; but the latter is preferred for the reasons stated.

The fork or teeth may be secured to thearms in any suit-able manner, either rigidly or pivotally, lfor adapting them to yield relatively to the fork-arm, and by preference are provided with spring-coils at d", in the tines or teeth, for adapting the latter also to yield, thereby, in connection with the elastic fork-arms, greatly diminishing the liability of the fork to be injured by obstructions as compared with tedders having fork-arms of the usual construction.

The eye at D2, for vthe attachment of the swinging link or radius-bar, may be formed roo either in the metal of the fork-arm itself or in a socketed casting, secured thereto in any usual or suitable manner.

constructed of yielding material and provided with an arch or curved portion, whereby it is mode capable of longitudinal contraction and expansion; but

Having now described by invention, I claim 1. A hay-tedder fork-arm made from a iiat bar of spring metal, and provided with a tedder-fork and crank-box secured thereto, substantially as described, as a new article of manufacture.

2. A hay-tedder fork-arm made of yielding material and provided with an arch or curved portion between the crank-box and fork, and a second arch or curved portion between said JOHN H. THOMAS.

Witnesses:

A. P. LINN COCHRAN, RoBT. C. RoDGERs. 

